Should he stay or should he go?

[dowjr1]

I was lamenting a short 24:24 listing for the weekend only to realize it's not the weekend.  Brain a bit fried I guess after today's drama. So here is the story. Let me know your thoughts as it took me a while to get the details. So I own a dog training business with locations in three states. I recently opened a new location about four months ago and my head trainer (military vet w several yrs K9 experience) is not returning calls. I'm told by the apprentice trainer (whom we will call Mark) that the head trainer had a mental episode and is at the VA for the week with no outside contact allowed per doctor orders. I think wow I hope he gets the appropriate treatment and gets well.  After a week I'm told he is going to another facility for 30 days in another state....also no contact. Then next day I get a call from a client who had signed up for 8 lesson package. She alleges that trainer was very flirty and there was an attraction. Over a few weeks, he did three lessons, all at her house and there was drinking and an overnight stay involved. She then claims she was going out of town and he offered to Board and Train her dog...and that she accepted and paid him $1,000 cash under the table. Head trainer's girlfriend (yes you read that correctly) denies payment took place. I asked client if she could prove the transaction...waiting on response.  The dog was under his care for three days then mental episode happened and client had a friend remove the dog. She is asking for a refund of $1,500 as some lessons were done and equipment provided which she will keep. I don't care about the refund, but as the owner, I knew nothing of the dog being boarded and there was no client liability release signed for the dog (which is standard practice). If I confirm the payment then easy decision. With no confirmation of payment I have a trainer who (at the least) was boarding and/or training a dog without my knowledge.  We also have personal relations with someone who is a client of the company. Client could be a nut job, but her email describing things had a lot of details that I think were accurate.  I have confirmed, through device records, that the lessons at the client's house were indeed 2+ hrs long when they should be one hour.  Plot twist: Client says the apprentice trainer saw her give the cash money to the head trainer and that he knew the details. Apprentice trainer, (who was a client and became fast friends with head trainer) was recently hired on recommendation of head trainer.  I have no proof of this accusation other than client's word. Well there you go...thoughts? I have pretty much made up my mind but would love some input on the drama.

[Smokin911]

My advise is to hire an employment law attorney and turn all matters over to him/her. 

[Corylax18]

Knee jerk reaction is pretty clear to me, there is no room for that type of behavior from someone in a position of trust. 

It would be quite a coincidence that a mental episode seems to follow, numerous, clear indiscretions with no relation between the two. 

 I don't think any further discussion with the Head Trainer is necessary. From your description its pretty clear that he was dishonest with you, which is pretty much the end of the road in my book. Retaining a lawyer with some experience in labor law probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Veterans Affairs loves ignoring our Vets our making things worse for them (research the VA Hospital here in Denver) but they become a whole different animal if someone else is doing the messing. 

[Fosgate]

I deal with vindictive people all the time with insurance claims. I'm also a vet and can understand some of the frustrations as an employer when dealing with his medical stuff. Trust me when I say dealing with the VA is giving yourself a second chance to die for your country. The govt is trying to streamline the process and letting guys go to local hospitals for treatment but approved specialist referrals are few to come by. I have to go to Lincoln Nebraska for some and Salt Lake City Utah for others. It sucks to have to do a road excursion to those places for some of these quacks you can never reach or often records get lost so you have to go again. (had that happen twice, I was not f'ing happy). 

I've had an instance where I went to a woman's home and her elderly Alzheimer stricken mother was in the house. I looked at the damage inside and out, moved on to her pole barn and then the mini house she has on the property to get away from her mother. She came on pretty hard but I'm engaged and there was just something off about her. She seemed to keep trying to call and email to chit chat but I wasn't having it. When I fired out the payment for her damage to her she just seemed like she had a license to steal trying to state additional damage, higher grade products etc. I called my boss and told him about my encounter with her and sure enough, we sent another adjuster out to her that was married and she tried to tell him that I made inappropriate advances trying to get him to fatten the payment. This is not uncommon in my trade when people just look at us as a license to steal if they can get some sort of leverage on us. I've had people say after I wouldn't add items onto their claims 2 years after the fact (hail damaged doors) blatantly tell me they are saving us money by not fixing the damage the first time and I should just tack on this latest damage to his old claim so he doesn't have to pay another deductible. "Wait, so initially you told me this happened 3 years ago but now your saying it just happened?" "yes" "So essentially you intended to defraud an insurance company into paying you for damage that did not happen when you say it did?". Hangs up and calls my boss complaining that I was stalking him and drove by his house after our conversation.

"What color car was it."

"Black Taurus" 

"What did (me) look like?"

"Short, Dark hair, skinny."

"Couldn't be him, his car has been at the body shop the last 3 days getting hail damage fixed, he's 6'6 , 300 lbs. Blonde hair."

Just saying. People these days don't want to pay for anything and they are willing to do some of the most shady things to get their way. I'd take it with a grain of salt and defend your employees until someone gives solid proof otherwise. There are also people who if they learn about his situation would use that as leverage against you to get their way. Pretty f'ing despicable what people will do. 

 

[earthson]

That's convoluted as all get out, but not from your story-telling.

I'd strongly recommend hiring a legal opinion. If it escalates, perhaps don't post any updates online.

[aes8]

Pay her what she wants and then fire everybody involved that way you can concentrate on what matters which is running your business and making sure this new location gets established and turn profitable asap.

Just my 2 cents.

[El Presidente]

labour laws are different everywhere. 

1. legal up

2. Likely: If it was a situation of theft (as this appears to be). Call in the police (hate to bother them but no better way to get people paying attention) and terminate the employment of all. 

3. if you have time, do background checks on all.  Likely it isn't the first time. 

You won't miss them. 

 

[btort910]

Don't do anything without consulting a lawyer first. Depending on the state in which this took place you could end up with all sorts of legal problems if you terminate either of these employees without some good legal advice.

[JohnS]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

labour laws are different everywhere. 

1. legal up

2. Likely: If it was a situation of theft (as this appears to be). Call in the police (hate to bother them but no better way to get people paying attention) and terminate the employment of all. 

3. if you have time, do background checks on all.  Likely it isn't the first time. 

You won't miss them. 

 

Best to listen to the voice of wisdom and reason. 

[polarbear]

I'd lawyer up and let them investigate from here

Regardless of the findings, I'd cut both trainers loose if possible. The whole thing doesn't pass the sniff test and if anything even slightly shonky is going on, you don't know what else could be happening that hasn't come to the surface yet

We had a similar issue with one of the Refrigeration guys who worked with us a few years back. He was going to clients homes to quote Air Con installs but then offering them discounts for cash and doing it in his own time and telling us we didn't get the work
Turns out he would send the clients to a mate of his who sold AC's and then would get a kick back from him after the sale
Only reason we ever found out about what was going on was one of his clients rang the company while he was on site to lodge a warranty claim on the install. It wasn't a fun conversation for him when he got back from site. I'd never seen my boss's face that red before.
After he left, we did a stocktake of his van and not only was he stealing work from us, he was using company materials to do the installs.
At a guess he would've done 15-20 installs before we caught him. At $500-$600 an install, I hope he invested the cash in something good, cause his trade papers were more or less useless after that. A reputation like that travels fast in the town

[luckme10]

Sometimes, you just have to put them down.

[asmith]

I thought this topic was about if we should ban Ken!

[PigFish]

Labor lawyer is a good idea. Firing a guy/gal that is now on disability might find you in court... anyway!

Do you have an employee handbook or code of conduct for employees? Does the employee have any contract with you, is he an independent contractor? Do you carry liability insurance for your business and employees? Your insurance carrier may be your best representative here!

It may be best for your business to pay off the allegedly damaged party. That is a business decision only you can make.

Frankly, if she is claiming that an employee of yours took her money (as your representative) and he did not forward the money on to you, you may consider contacting the district attorney and handing the case to him. If he did take money that was rightfully yours as your employee, he may be looking at theft charges... Many district attorneys are actually reasonable people and they know scams when they see them. This might be a criminal case and you may consider calling the district attorney's office for some advice.

Being a veteran is not a license to steal! Like many of you I have a soft heart for those that sacrifice for my country. That does not make them right in all circumstances. It might be worth it morally to bail him out of this jamb but you should not liable yourself in doing so. Your refund of money just may be enough to imply that you have further liability here... That is a lawyer question and above my pay grade.

As I see it, you have an employee stealing in your name. I would call the DA... There appears to be very little center ground these days. Hand shakes and honor mean very little. It does not mean that you should not be honorable, but a sucker, that is not your job either...!

The DA will likely tell you if this is a civil matter between the trainer and the client. If the client contacted you and paid you legitimately then they may be due the money back that they paid 'you.' I would expect to pay that back. I see no reason that while the trainer was working as a marital aid that you would be responsible for her bill with her concubine... It seems that you are being asked to sponsor the clients bad judgement. I would return her lesson money... If that is what she paid you for and did not get, she should get her money back.

If you are not in the penis rental business, then that refund should come from the guy giving her the shaft...

Best of luck. -the Pig

[Colt45]

Anything you post on the internet can and will be used against you in a court of law 

[BrightonCorgi]

Without receipts and/or a signed contract I would not give up a dollar.  I would look to hire a different trainer(s).    

[RickHendeson]

Is it my imagination, or within the past year or so did we not have another "Horror Story of My Dog Training Business" right here on FOH?  I seem to recall something like that pretty well but of course the ol' brainpan ain't what it used to be either . . .

PS not saying OP.  Just a similar story about dog training?

[Spanishcedar]

Clean House, cut out dead wood and get your service to your customers running smoothly again.

Keep trying to make contact.

[CooGAR]

Wow....talk about a soap opera.  Good luck!

[Fugu]

4 hours ago, RickHendeson said:

Is it my imagination, or within the past year or so did we not have another "Horror Story of My Dog Training Business" right here on FOH?  I seem to recall something like that pretty well but of course the ol' brainpan ain't what it used to be either . . .

PS not saying OP.  Just a similar story about dog training?

Was thinking the same, as something sounded quite familiar. If it has indeed been the OP, my advice would be, next time check out carefully whom you hire first and get things right (professionalize) your end, perhaps? E.g. off-side training or support of any kind would surely need to be contractually excluded / demanding permit - including substantial fines in case of violation of contract. Sorry if this may sound rude, but that's what is springing to my mind. No obligations with regard to any claims brought up by the client of course.

 

[perkinke]

My first impulse was "this is theft," but had a couple of questions that I may have missed or need clarifying.

1) was the dog boarded at your facility or at the head trainers home/facility?

2) was the training carried out under the color of your business or as a private transaction? (did the client believe she was paying your business or knowingly paying him personally? the fact that no paperwork was signed to me strongly implies that she knew, or should have known, that it was not a transaction with your business)

3) do you have a policy prohibiting side-work by your employees?

The best advice has already been given, find a good lawyer.  The other thing you might think about for the future is contracting with a firm to handle your HR, there are some good ones and some bad ones but the good ones can save you a ton of headaches and money over the long-run.  Think of them like you would an accountant: sure you could do your taxes/books yourself but isn't getting it right worth the investment?